MENU

Hi everyone! I hope early fall is going well for all of you. I have been busy finalizing everything for the Fall Market debut of my patterns. I will be rolling out each one of those patterns here (the ones that have not been released yet) in the coming weeks. I’ll talk about the inspiration behind the designs and give some tips for making the project.

But for today, I thought it would be fun to talk about organizing pieces of blocks so you have access to them at the sewing machine, but you are not mixing them together. I use these homemade mini design boards!

All you need to make the boards, is a stiff piece of cardboard (you can recycle boxes!), scrap batting and a glue stick. That’s all!

I cut the cardboard pieces to about 13″ square so they can accommodate block pieces for a finished 12″ block. You can also make smaller boards if you make smaller blocks more often, or you can make some boards that are larger. I have a few boards that are 19″ square. I can fit pieces on them for 4 blocks that will be 6″ finished.

Once you have the size cardboard square you want, cut a piece of scrap batting that measures about 1/2″ larger than your square. Lay the batting on a flat surface, then lay the cardboard square in the center so you have batting overlap on all 4 sides. Fold the batting over the cardboard edge and secure it to the back of the cardboard with a glue stick. I use a permanent glue stick so it will stay secure through constant use.

Here is a block laid out on one of these mini design boards, all ready to stitch the pieces together!

Now, you can lay out all your blocks on individual mini boards, stack them up and carry them all to your machine. This helps you not to mix up the pieces for each block. Also, it’s a time saver! You don’t have to stop and lay out the pieces for the next block …. it’s already laid out on the board below the one you just finished!

Here’s a stack of mini boards I started for the project I’m working on:

So, what do you think of this time saving idea? Share some of your ideas in the comments below and win a free pattern. My new pattern Country Dance!

This one would be a great quilt project to have mini boards for. The drawing will take place on Monday, October 8th. ***We have a winner! Congrats Cathy!***

As you have noticed, I’m a scrap quilting nut. I love to have a “riot” of color in my designs. Some of them are true scrappy. By this, I mean that I sit next to a tub of scraps and pull out a different piece of fabric for each piece of a block. This is a lot of fun and has made creations like this pattern of mine called Crisscross Cabin Blooms:

Then there is the kind of scrap quilt that is a little more “planned” like my pattern Scrappy North Stars:

This pattern takes 54 fat quarters. Before you cut out pieces for this quilt, you pair up dark color prints, medium color prints and background fabrics into what I call “color sets”. Each color set will make a certain number of blocks. The dark color will be on the outside in some blocks and on the inside in others. This is a one block quilt, but due to the variety of fabrics, it’s still really interesting and fun to look at!

So now, it’s on to some of my tips for a successful scrap quilt. When you are making a scrap quilt, you are usually using at least 5 or 6 different colors of fabric for variety. But, when you are piecing your quilt top, it never fails, you get the same colors right next to each other or clumped together on one side of a block or quilt. How to remedy this problem?

Tip #1: I number the fabrics. For example, if I have a blue, purple, green, pink and gold fabric, I will number them 1 through 5. If you have 20 different fabrics, you can group them by color family and then number them. Once they are numbered, I then take a diagram of the quilt block or quilt top (you can make a copy of the block or quilt from the pattern and enlarge it if you need to) and write numbers on the quilt top pieces. As I am numbering, I make sure the distribution of the colors is even!

This example above is for a small wall hanging. I call this “color mapping”.

Tip #2: Are you worried that you are going to sew rows or block pieces together wrong after carefully planning the color placement above?

As you can see by the photo above, I have the sections numbered starting with #1. Section 1 is to be sewn to section 2 and then section 3 is sewn to the bottom of section 2 and so on ….. I started doing this when I flubbed on color placement a few times when transferring pieces from my design wall to my sewing machine. I would end up sewing the wrong pieces together and not notice it until a whole border was done and I saw the same colors clumped together. Then …. it was time to “unsew”. An we all know how much fun that is!

I use the sheets of the little square Avery stickers (#5418 Multi-Use Labels) to number my pieces. Here is the complete row laid out and ready to be joined:

Tip #3: Another thing I use these stickers for are “directional” arrows. As you can see by the units above and looking over my pattern diagram above, the triangles face different directions based on which side of the quilt they are on. In order to keep me straight, I draw a little arrow on one of the small stickers and place it at the top of a row so I know which way is up.

As you can see, organization while piecing a scrap quilt is essential if you have blocks or pieces with similar colors. Of course, we always seem to miss something, nobody’s perfect! But this will help you to have the scrappiest quilt you can.

I hope you liked this brief “tutorial” on scrap quilting. Now hit that stash and start stitching!

Leave me a comment below on your favorite scrap quilting tip. You will be entered into a drawing to receive one of the above patterns from my collection! Good luck!

Subscribe to my e-newsletter

Subscribe to Snuggles Quilts email newsletter to stay informed about new patterns, workshops, books and more!

Email *

First Name

Last Name

Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from Snuggles Quilts. (You can unsubscribe anytime)

Constant Contact Use.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Snuggles Quilts, 202 Cedar St, Osage, IA, 50461. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact